Public Access Computers Temporarily Unavailable

Due to the current construction projects taking place at Western Libraries in Haggard Hall, the community public access computers are temporarily out of service. Staff are working to restore service to these computers as quickly as possible, but at this time we do not yet know when service to these computer workstations will be fully restored.

Western-affiliated students, faculty, and staff still have access to library computers and wireless internet services. Non-Western affiliated patrons, (those who do not have a WWU universal log-in and password), who are seeking online access to government documents should seek assistance at Circulation Services.

We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your understanding during this time. We will continue to update this information as we learn more about when public access to community computer workstations is expected to be restored.

Scholar and Fellowship Recipient Jessica Arnett to Speak at WWU about Alaska

Jessica Leslie Arnett, recipient of the 2015 James W. Scott Research Fellowship, will speak about Alaska during an upcoming talk entitled “Between Empires and Frontiers: Sovereignty, Land, Labor, and Belonging in Territorial Alaska” at Western Washington University. This event is free and open to the public, and will take place on Friday, August 14 at 3:00pm in Western Libraries Special Collections (Wilson Library 6th Floor).

Arnett’s research interests were shaped by her own experience of having been raised in south central Alaska from a young age. She is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of History at the University of Minnesota, a 2015-2016 Andrew Mellon Dissertation Fellow, and a short-term Newberry Library Consortium for American Indian Studies Fellow.

Arnett’s dissertation, “Between Empires and Frontiers: Alaska Native Sovereignty and U.S. Settler Imperialism,” examines territorial Alaska as a geopolitical space in which the legal and political frameworks of settler colonialism and imperialism converged, and also explores how Alaska Natives leveraged the tensions produced by this entanglement in their claims on sovereignty, land, and belonging.

Prior to her talk, Arnett will spend a week at the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies (CPNWS) conducting extensive research as part of the opportunity afforded her by the James W. Scott Research Fellowship. This fellowship was established to promote awareness and use of archival collections at Western, and to forward scholarly understandings of the Pacific Northwest. Funds are awarded in honor of the late Dr. James W. (Jim) Scott, noted scholar of the Pacific Northwest region and a founder and first Director of the CPNWS.

For more information about this event or the CPNWS, contact: Ruth Steele, Archivist at the CPNWS, (360) 650-7747, Ruth.Steele@wwu.edu

Summer Construction @Western Libraries

While there may be fewer students on campus during the summer, things are still busy at Western Libraries! You may have noticed that two construction projects are currently underway in Haggard Hall that will affect some spaces and services.

Project 1: Digital Media Commons

When completed the Digital Media Commons will provide an interdisciplinary teaching & working broadcast studio featuring new walls, finishes & cabinets, as well as new broadcast & media equipment. ATUS will manage this new resource which will be accessible to authorized students and faculty. This public works project is in the midst of heavy construction work on the second floor of Haggard Hall.

As a result:

The Mac Lab (HH 245A-B) is currently unavailable.

The computer lab in HH233 remains available for use during library hours and can be accessed, with caution, through the hallway adjacent to the construction site.

Users of Lab 233 will experience intermittent construction noises, vibrations, and possible dirt and dust in the space.

The 24 hour study space outside of the library, HH250, is currently being utilized by contractors.

Other occupants of spaces in Haggard Hall may also experience intermittent construction noises and vibrations.

Completion of work on this project is currently expected around the start of Fall Quarter.

Project 2: Research-Writing Studio

This project, funded by a generous private gift, will repurpose space behind the Student Tech Center (STC) service desk on Haggard 2 to create a collaborative studio environment which will integrate services and staff of Research Consultation with those of the Writing Center. This integrated service concept was piloted during Spring Quarter. Upon completion of this project the Studio space will have the capacity to serve a larger number of students who can receive feedback and assistance while they work. Research consultants and writing assistants will offer incremental, strategy-based consultations while students work individually or collaboratively within this new space.

As a result of this project:

The open use computers and printers, currently located behind the STC desk, are being relocated to a more visible location previously occupied by the oversize book stacks and adjacent to the STC lab.

Oversize books have been moved to Wilson Library 267 across from Zoe’s.

During the coming weeks work will be underway upgrading power and data required to support the computers and printers.

Staging of the various phases of this project will result in some service disruptions including periods when computers being relocated will be unavailable for use. Library staff will be working to minimize these disruptions as much as possible.

Users of the affected areas may experience intermittent construction noise and related activity.

Completion of work on this project is expected to be in mid-September.

All of us at Western Libraries and the Learning Commons appreciate your patience and understanding during this construction period as work progresses on these exciting new projects.

This past Sunday July 12, Western Libraries’ faculty, staff, friends, and family came together in celebration of “Bellingham Pride,” something they have done each year since 2013. Representing Western Libraries in the parade and hosting a table at the festival has become an annual tradition that many at the Libraries look forward to and enjoy.

“Three years ago, the Western Libraries Diversity Committee felt it was important for us to have a presence at Bellingham Pride to show our support of our students and our community as a whole,” explained Western Libraries Circulation staff member, Amy Sedovic. Sedovic first marched in the parade with her friends in the Whatcom County Library System back in 2009. She noted that this was during the budget crisis, and that they carried a banner that read “Yes Libraries.”

“I was so amazed and happy to hear people cheering specifically for libraries, shouting things like, ‘I love the library!’” said Sedovic. She explained how libraries are seen as “open, welcoming, and affirming places,” and that she feels honored to be a part of that tradition.

As explained by the American Libraries Association (ALA), Libraries can serve LGBTQ people by ensuring that they are represented in library collections and provided with library services. They also note that as a population which frequently faces discrimination and harassment, LGBTQ people can benefit from access to information and the sense of community libraries provide. Librarian Rebecca Marrall explained that she looks forward to the festival every year because of the chance to connect with the community and raise awareness about the Libraries’ historical and archival collections that feature regional LGBTQ narratives.

“I love this event because we meet community members who can see themselves in our collections. Plus, we’re celebrating happiness. Who doesn’t love that?” Marrall asked.

Archivist at the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies Ruth Steele agreed with Marrall that Bellingham Pride is a wonderful occasion to showcase some of the unique materials that many people are unaware exist or are unsure of how to access.

“I love the opportunity to help represent Western and Western Libraries at Bellingham Pride,” explained Steele. “Heritage Resources houses some rich LGBTQ archival collections, and every year, we get to connect with individuals who are interested to find out more about these collections, and who later visit the archives as researchers, or contact us about LGBTQ records they would like to donate and see preserved for future generations.”

In addition to connecting with new community members, the festival also offers the Libraries a chance to see some familiar faces and reaffirm current connections.

“It’s also always a pleasure to revisit with long-time friends of the archives who stop by the Libraries’ table, and we are ever grateful for their support in helping to build and promote awareness of our collections,” Steele said.

Staff and faculty at Western Libraries anticipate increased participation in the Bellingham Pride events as enthusiasm for such an important and significant celebration grows. Sedovic encourages anyone at Western who is interested in joining the Libraries to walk with them in the parade next year and she reiterated that everyone is welcome.

For more information about the LGBTQ Archival and Primary Source Materials at Western Libraries, contact Heritage.Resources@wwu.edu.

Heritage Resources is a division of Western Libraries which includes the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies, Special Collections, and the University Archives & Records Management. Together the three units provide for responsible stewardship of unique and archival materials in support of teaching, learning, and research.

Summer quarter offers many of us at Western Libraries a chance to catch up on long-term projects and prepare for the beginning of the new academic year.

If you are seeking ways to showcase your research and scholarly work, or if you are interested in exploring new ways to connect with your colleagues about research and scholarly work happening at Western, don’t forget about Western CEDAR, Western’s own institutional repository.

CEDAR’s implementation team is available throughout the summer to help build a research page (SelectedWorks) for you. CEDAR’s Selected Works allows faculty and staff from Western to share their work and expand their readership. Articles published in peer-reviewed journals that are added to CEDAR are free to readers and search engine optimized for maximum exposure, meaning they have the potential to receive increased readership beyond the discipline-specific journal in which they were first published.

CEDAR makes scholarship available and accessible to anyone in the world, and SelectedWorks provides scholars at Western an opportunity to discover what their colleagues are researching and creating. Faculty and staff who create SelectedWorks pages can showcase their scholarly works by displaying them in customized formats organized according to the categories they highlight, (such as: areas of research and expertise, awards and honors, publications, bibliographies, curriculum vitae, or lists of links to additional information).

Western CEDAR is a service of Western Libraries, in partnership with the Graduate School, Office of the Provost, and Office of Research and Sponsored Programs. CEDAR advances Western Washington University’s commitment to enriching academic inquiry and strengthening communities by sharing the expertise and creativity of its students, faculty, and staff. If you have any questions about Western CEDAR or are interested in creating your own research page, please contact Western Libraries Scholarly Communication Librarian Jenny.Oleen@wwu.edu or Western CEDAR Manager Kim.Marsicek@wwu.edu.

The Goltz-Murray Archives Building parking lot (33G) will be closed for repair/re-sealing August 8th-12th. Alternative parking can be found in Lots 1R and 22G (see below):

Researchers may temporarily park in the loading zone in front of the building (by the bike racks) while collecting parking permits from the front desk. Please contact building staff if you have any questions (360-650-7534; cpnws@wwu.edu). We apologize for any inconvenience.

One Search New Design - July 15 2015

Drawing upon feedback from the 2015 Library Use Surveys, usability sessions, and user analytics, the OneSearch Management Team at Western Libraries has redesigned the library catalog to improve the functionality and clarity of OneSearch and also introduce new features designed to enrich the research experience. This new and improved design will replace the current OneSearch design on July 15, 2015.

Some examples of the improvements made include:

Refine Your Results Menu: You will be able to combine search filters to better refine your search results.

MyAccount: You will be able to access your OneSearch MyAccount in new menus (located in the upper right hand corner), which were designed for ease of access and use.

Search Results Display: You will be able to access availability information at a glance.

Item Display: We improved the display of item details for ease of use.

Estimated Results per Scope: Each tab will correspond with a search scope and you will be able to see an estimated number of results, according to search scope and search query.

Chat with a Librarian Feature: You will be able to chat with a research professional while conducting searches.

OneSearch searches library holdings at Western Washington University and the holdings of 36 neighboring academic libraries in the Pacific Northwest. Students, staff, and faculty affiliated with any of these institutions may borrow a wide variety of materials from within the OneSearch interface.

Women Photojournalists of Washington

Originally scheduled to end July 27th, this show has been extended through Friday, August 14th!

Women Photojournalists of Washington (WPOW), an annual juried exhibition made possible by a grant from the National Press Photographers Association featuring the work of women photographers is currently available for viewing at Western Libraries. A new show is curated each spring and exhibited in a D.C. gallery during the fall before travelling to universities nationwide the following winter and spring. This year’s exhibit, curated by National Geographic’s Elizabeth Krist, features the work of fifteen WPOW members, including the Best in Show image by world-renowned photographer Ami Vitale.

The WPOW exhibit is co-sponsored by Western Libraries Heritage Resources and the Bellingham Visual Journalism Conference and is on display in Special Collections(Wilson Library 6th Floor) Monday through Friday, from 11:00am-4:00pm through July 27th, August 14, 2015.

Research Strategies Class Poster Session

Almost every day at Western there is a chance to engage in the distinctive and dynamic teaching and learning environment of which we are each a part.

One such opportunity recently took place here in the library as students in Rob Lopresti’s Library 201 "Introduction to Library Research Strategies" class hosted a poster session to showcase the results of their research, thereby giving students, staff, and faculty an opportunity to engage in the learning experience with them.

Each student in the class selected a subject to explore, which they then researched in stages, applying their individual questions to the scholarly literature and then traveling from inquiry to thesis.

Research topics included: the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone Area, the implications of shark fin trade on culture and environment, an exploration of the decline in local Orca whale populations, the psychological benefits of writing about loss or trauma, the effects of river dams and on the salmon population, and an exploration of some of the cultural, gender, and social messages reinforced by Disney films.

These are just a few of the fascinating topics that students researched and then ultimately shared at the special poster session event during which everyone was welcome to view the students’ posters and also talk with the students about their projects. Special thanks to Rob and his Library 201 class for sharing with all of us!

Western Libraries Undergraduate Research Award Winners for 2015 Announced!

Winners of the Western Libraries Undergraduate Research Award were honored at a small reception held in Western Libraries Special Collections on Friday, June 5, 2015, during which Dean of Libraries Mark Greenberg publicly recognized each student for their work and presented the awardees with their award certificates. Also in attendance were members of the 2015 Undergraduate Research Award review committee, friends and family members of each of the award-winning students, and the students’ faculty mentors.

Western Libraries Undergraduate Research Award is given annually to three Western Washington University undergraduate students in recognition of their excellence and originality in creating research papers for courses taught across the colleges based on significant inquiry using library resources and collections. Each winner of the Western Libraries Undergraduate Research Award receives a certificate, a cash award of $500.00, and publication of their prize-winning paper in WesternCEDAR, Western Washington University’s institutional repository.

Award applicants must demonstrate outstanding library research in the writing of their research papers, and winners are selected by an award review committee consisting of a variety of faculty members from Western Libraries and other disciplines at Western. Members of the 2015 award review committee included: Jeanne Armstrong (Libraries), Javier Berzal de Dios (Art), Amanda Eurich (History), Margaret Fast (Western Libraries), and Jeff Purdue (Western Libraries).

The three 2014-2015 winners listed below with their paper titles and faculty mentors are: